


Blueberry-and-Lemon Cupcakes

by Emby_M



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Autumn, Cupcakes, F/M, Long-Term Relationship(s), Marriage Proposal, Supportive Friendships for Caleb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,832
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27671429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emby_M/pseuds/Emby_M
Summary: The cupcakes are blueberry. For his littleblaubeere. With lemon-cream-cheese frosting. Half of them have plain frosting with a little lemon zest over the top, and the other two have a kind of swirl that Beau had demonstrated on one of the testing batches and that he immediately liked. He knows Jester will like them too. Then on top of them are little toppers – a piece of lavender, a piece of lace, a bow of purple satin ribbon, and-The ring.-Caleb proposes on a perfect autumn day.
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett & Caleb Widogast, Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast, Nott | Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast
Comments: 9
Kudos: 92





	Blueberry-and-Lemon Cupcakes

“Liebchen,” he calls.

Jester pops her head up from the couch where she sits, a book in her hands. “Yeees? What's up?”

“Would you like to go for a little walk before dinner? I have some treats we can eat too.”

Caleb swallows. The box of cupcakes feels like a brazier in his hands, like she can see right through the ruse. Beau, from the other side of the foyer, throws a stony-faced thumbs up; Nott cocks an eyebrow at him.

“Sure!” Jester says, popping up onto her feet and tossing down her book, “Let me go and get my cloak!”

Caleb swallows, tucking the box of cupcakes into his chest, turning away from the intense stare of Beau, who knows.

He'd gone to her to plan, after all, and discuss his best options for this. So she was obviously going to be invested in how her plan would turn out, if Jester was going to say yes.

He's going to propose.

He had asked Beau for her help. He had this idea – the cupcakes, and the walk – and he had to make sure it wasn't just completely strange, and it wasn't something that would make Jester uncomfortable or pressure her into a decision she didn't mean, and that Jester would like it.

Beau – their constant unwilling witness to some of the... grittier parts of their relationship – had grimaced, but told him it was so perfectly, sickeningly cute that he had to go with it. She had even helped him bake the cupcakes.

She was very good at it, which surprised him slightly. He asked why she knew how, and Beau had swiped a bit of frosting from her nose and told him she dated a baker and it just kind of stuck. Caleb commented no further.

The cupcakes are blueberry. For his little _blaubeere_. With lemon-cream-cheese frosting. Half of them have plain frosting with a little lemon zest over the top, and the other two have a kind of swirl that Beau had demonstrated on one of the testing batches and that he immediately liked. He knows Jester will like them too. Then on top of them are little toppers – a piece of lavender, a piece of lace, a bow of purple satin ribbon, and-

The ring.

The ring that he bought. Properly. No funny business, no stealing, no casting a spell to convince the shop keeper that it was already paid for, no changing pennies into gold. No, he paid for it with his savings (and a bit of Nott's as well, although he couldn't tell her what he was buying – she might have thought it was for a smutty book or something) and it... hopefully fits perfectly.

Panic rises in his throat for a moment – if this is a stupid idea, if he's being presumptuous even assuming she wants to actually marry, even though they call each other husband and wife already, if the cupcakes were going to taste _bad-_

Jester hops down the stairs in her pretty cloak – the embroidered one, with the fur lined hood – and any worries he has dissipate into the air. She's so lovely.

“You look pretty today,” she comments, taking his arm as they walk to the entryway.

“I don't usually?” He feigns sadness, pouting slightly.

She giggles.

“You always look _handsome,_ ” she laughs as they step into the brisk autumn air, pinching his cheek lightly, “But today you look pretty.”

And perhaps he does. He tried to dress up a little for it. He has on the wine-red coat her mother had bought for him, and a deep purple waistcoat, and the pearl-grey scarf Jester herself had knitted for him. He's tied his hair back as well – but he didn't shave, since Jester preferred him a little scruffy, showing off the cleft in his chin.

“Well, thank you.” He helps her down the stairs.

She hops merrily down to the walkway, taking up his arm again.

And so they walk.

The guest house is in a more sedate area, mostly family homes and local shops, although it's not far from the town's center, where a festival is going on today.

He hadn't expected it when they arrived (and frankly the passage of time had been ignored in the wake of everything) but Oktoberfest is now, the streets alive with a joviality that's infectious. It's the weekend, and families and couples bustle in their festival best, coming from or headed to the events. Somehow, even as they are, they fit in. No one stops them, and they all smile at each other as they pass.

She smiles up at him too. And he smiles back. The box of cupcakes doesn't feel as heavy as it did in the guest house, especially not when a young woman – maybe a halfling – comes up and offers Jester a calendula – sunny yellow with long thin petals. When Jester tries to pay, the woman just waves her off and insists it's for the festival.

“How nice,” Jester smiles, and turns to him to pin it onto his lapel with one of her dress pins.

“She gave it to you,” he says.

“I know, but now I'm giving it to you, silly.”

“Well, alright,” he says, leaning down and kissing the crown of her head.

It's not hard to walk beside her – to easily lift his arm when she indicates she wants to twirl, her pretty cloak and her skirts flaring as she does, to hold her hand as she tightrope-walks a narrow, knee-high wall. She says she's nearly his height up there, and he hums that she should make use of her newfound height, and they kiss.

And it's easy. Music floats on the air, the day is bright and fresh, and his (hopefully to-be-)wife smiles at him as they walk. She spends a brief moment trying her best to find an autumn leaf that matches his hair perfectly, and proudly tucks it under her hair band when she finds it, grinning up at him and skipping a few lively steps.

He can't stop smiling. And he doesn't want to. He would skip along with her if it wasn't for the cupcakes, even if he would look silly.

Even if he was afraid- he wouldn't regret this. He wouldn't regret their relationship. Wouldn't regret her knowing how deeply he loves her. Wouldn't regret the softness of her hand in his, the idle way she traces his scarred knuckles, wouldn't regret the way she flushes purple when he reaches down to brush her cheek.

“Shall we eat?” he asks, pointing to a low, broad wall around a common.

“Yes! I am _so_ curious what treats you brought along,” she purses her lips and pinches at her chin, her silly detective posture.

“I hope you like them,” he says, as they perch on the wall facing each other, the box between them.

He opens the box and proffers them to her.

“Ooh!” she gasps, “They're so pretty!”

“They're blueberry,” he says, “And lemon.”

“My favorite,” she grins, taking the one with the strip of lace first, with its pretty swirled frosting. She then offers the box to him, smiling.

“For me?”

“Of course, of course I'm going to share with you.”

He smiles despite the worming nervousness in his gut. “Well, thank you.”

He takes the one with the purple ribbon. If she asked – it was the color of her eyes, the color of her blush. It was really his favorite color, a warm and happy color.

She holds up the bit of lace once she's plucked it off, staring closely at the pattern.

If she asks- Nott had given it to him. He was looking for a piece of lace and finding it hard to find anything nice, but Nott had very practically handed over this piece. Apparently it was a tiny snipping of her wedding dress, and it had felt like a blessing from her to him, even if she didn't know what it was for.

Finally, Jester bites into the cupcake, frosting smearing on her lips. Almost immediately, her eyes widen, and she takes another bite, making her sweet little happy noises, wiggling with joy.

He laughs, and she swallows enough to ask, “Where did you buy these, they're delicious!”

“I made them myself,” he says, laughing.

“No, no you didn't!” She says, smiling huge and bright, her joy turning into a cute little wriggling squeal. He nods, though, fighting back the smile that twists at his lips. “Caleb, Caleb, Caleb, they are so good! Like they're from a bakery!”

“Thank you,” he says, bowing in place, taking a bite himself. They really are good, the perfect mixture of tart and sweet, with the round mellowness of the cream cheese and the tender blueberries that give under his teeth. He's had so many of them in the last few weeks, with all their testing batches and recipe refinements, but these ones are the best. “I wanted to make something you'd like.”

“Well, you did!”

He eats the rest, nervously fiddling with the edge of his boot. She finishes hers as well, each bite punctuated with a big “mm!” noise.

She reaches for the cupcake with the lavender.

“Oh-” he says, and she pauses, licking frosting from her lips, “I... wanted that one.”

If she didn't get the one with the ring, it would be pointless. If he had to awkwardly try to give her three of them – maybe he could say he was full but she might say to save it for later and then-

The nerves are back. He tugs on the laces of his boot. This was big and she might say no and what would he do, exactly, if she said no?

“Oh, yeah,” she nods, handing the lavender-topped one to him, “You're right, I already had one with the swirlies. Oh but, how did you even do that?”

“Um,” he mutters, “You can put two colors of frosting in the same pastry bag... and when you squeeze it comes out in two colors.”

She picks up the one with the ring, humming a pleased note at the new information. He nervously bites into his cupcake, watching her look at hers. “This is a pretty topper-” she says, “It looks so real!”

It is real. He doesn't say it, but she continues the stare at it, bringing it close and into the sunshine to really look at it.

The moment comes – Jester furrows her brows, the smile slipping off her face. Caleb shoves the rest of the cupcake in his mouth, chewing down, eyes locked on Jester, now staring.

She takes the ring from the frosting, setting down the cupcake back in the box, then sucking the ring clean and wiping it with the hem of her apron, inspecting it closely.

Then slowly, she slips it onto her finger. It fits perfectly.

Of course it does.

“Caleb?” she asks, voice soft, “What is this?”

He says nothing. It's the first time he really doesn't understand the expression on her face, the angle of her brow and the way her lips fall open. He can't say if she's angry or not, can't tell if she's happy- he can't tell anything at all.

“Caleb,” she says again, clutching at the ring the way she might staunch a wound.

He licks his lips. Takes a deep breath.

“If it's alright with you,” he says softly, almost lost in the susurration of the autumn leaves, “I'd like to marry you.”

She blinks. But she doesn't say anything, her normally talkative mouth silenced.

A long silence stretches over them. So long. Caleb breaks into a cold sweat, the leather of his half-gloves sticking to his hands unpleasantly, as though it were still summer and not mid-October.

What happens, then, if she says no? What happens if she says no, and the idea of him asking at all undid everything they had built in the last few years? What happens if she leaves, disgusted by his sudden sentimentality, if she apologizes-

If she apologizes for making him think he could ask-

What happens?

“......marry me? like.... like marry-marry,” She stutters, brows knitting, “With rings? And... and a pretty dress and vows and- and marry?”

This was... a mistake. He nods. She sits back, staring at the ring on her finger, turning her hand over this way and that with a despondent expression, taking it off again to look on the inside, gripping it in her hand. Like she might throw it at him.

“How could I say anything but yes, Caleb?”

…

“... You're sure? You're really certain?” he asks.

“You... you baked me my favorite cupcakes. And you made them perfectly and made little toppers for them. And you got me a ring that fits perfectly and has our initials and a little heart on the inside and there's even a little sapphire and-” she puts the ring on again, and it really does look perfect on her finger, “And I just feel so loved.”

“You are loved, liebchen,” He assures her, “I love you like I love no one else, and _will_ love no one else, and even though I don't have much to offer, I only hope that I can make you happy-”

He doesn't get to finish, because she throws her arms around his neck and tackles him into the wall, sobbing or maybe laughing against his shoulder and whispering “yes, yes, yes.”

-

They take their time coming back. They finish the cupcakes, Jester's eyes now red at the corners but a permanent grin on her face, sunny and warm as she is. And Caleb finds even his face is stuck in a permanent smile, a pleasant warmth in his cheeks. She compliments him again, and his work, and he tells her about the toppers – the ribbon the color of her cheeks, the lace from Nott's wedding gown, the lavender for the sweet perfume she wears, and the ring, all the nights he spent thinking about how her perfect ring would look. She laughs at the descriptions of Beau bootcamping baking talent into him, and Nott's suspicions at being asked for money for the ring, and how many dreams he had about the frosting melting before it was ready.

When they stand again, he offers his arm, but she leaps up to kiss him instead, her arms around his neck. And they kiss for quite a while, until a poor mother, child in her arms, clears her throat to get by. But even she smiles at them when Jester excitedly shows her the ring and tells her how _she just got engaged, he just proposed like the sweetest thing and so they're very very happy now._

They walk slowly, savoring the autumn air. She holds onto his arm loosely, but at points will spin again, or run ahead for another perfect leaf, or spread her arms in the walkway and demand a toll of kisses, which he gives over happily, even as the price increases, one, two, four kisses.

He just can't stop smiling.

The music that drifts along the air is muted, the rustling of the trees their own percussion, the scent of a dozen dinners cooking away. She giggles and tucks herself into his coat, and he wonders aloud if their marriage is just going to be this nonstop touching, and she grins up at him proudly that it will be, and he murmurs he wouldn't have it any other way, kissing her forehead gently.

They talk about what the wedding will be like – she describes a ketubah and the chuppah and if her mother will be able to come. He wonders what season will be right, if they can find both a priest and a rabbi, if the Traveler would come.

But mostly they just walk, holding hands.

When they come back Beau is standing on her chair, trying to see if it worked – when Caleb gives her a small, shy thumbs-up, she collapses down into the chair with a whoop, drawing the attention of the others. Jester proudly bounds in, throwing offer her cloak and her boots to show off the ring to their friends, who gasp in amazement or pride, all of them prying Caleb over to congratulate him with a round of hard slaps on his back. Nott grins up at him, and asks if the money was useful, and if she liked the bit of lace. He hands it back to her, a little marred with frosting, but she hands it back, smiling broadly.

At dinner, they all raise toasts to the new fiances, and Jester laughs like ringing bells, and even Caleb gets in a good deep belly laugh, to the surprise of all.

And when they retire for the night, to the surprise of even themselves, they just cuddle. They hold each other. Speak softly about futures and tomorrows and todays, right nows.

Jester kisses him softly. He kisses her back. And they fall into gentle, easy sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


End file.
